Georgia's BGEO profit up ahead of banking, investment split

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By Justin George Varghese

Aug 16 (Reuters) - Georgia's BGEO Group Plc (Frankfurt: A1JRZ7 - news) , which is planning to split its banking and investment businesses, said on Wednesday its second quarter pre-tax profit rose to 128.1 million Georgian laris ($54 million), from 46.5 million a year earlier.

The holding company said its Bank of Georgia division posted profit growth of 21.7 percent to 87.3 million laris while profit before tax at its healthcare business, which is Georgia's largest health insurance provider, rose to 37.5 million laris from 10.9 million laris.

BGEO said in July that it intended to demerge into London-listed banking and investment businesses.

Rival TBC Bank Group Plc, Georgia's largest retail bank, will report results next week.

Georgia's government forecasts growth of 3 percent in 2016 and 4 percent in 2017, compared with 2.8 percent in 2015. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast the country would grow by 3.4 percent in 2016 and 5.2 percent in 2017.

Georgia's economy minister said in June that the country's economy has a good chance of exceeding an official 4 percent growth projection in 2017, thanks to private sector developments and the government spending on infrastructure projects.

After slowing to 2.2 percent last year from 2.9 percent in 2015, the economy of the former Soviet republic is now recovering from a fall in exports and a depreciation of currencies of its main trading partners.

The economy in Georgia, through which pipelines carry Caspian oil and gas to Europe, has already picked up to 4.2 percent in the first four months this year after expanding by 2.8 percent in the same period a year earlier thanks to higher exports and more remittances from abroad. ($1 = 2.3855 laris) (Reporting by Justin George Varghese and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Adrian Croft and Alexander Smith)